Germanwings plane crash in French Alps killing 150 passengers, including two babies

A Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps this morning, killing all 150 people on board, including Two babies were aboard according to report from Evening Standard ... Continue reading report below:

Thomas Winkelmann, chief executive of the budget airline, confirmed the news in a press conference this afternoon.

It came as French police confirmed there were no survivors. They added it would take several days before all of the bodies could be recovered.

Mr Winkelmann said the Airbus A320 last underwent a major checkup in summer 2013 but a routine check was carried out in Dusseldorf yesterday.

It then completed a flight to Barcelona early this morning before embarking on its final journey.

Grieving relatives

Some 67 Germans were believed to be on board but the airline could not give any more information on the nationalities of other passengers.

There have been conflicting reports about whether a distress call was sent out early in the flight. The airline was unable to confirm whether or not this happened.

Mr Winklemann said: "This is a tragic and very sad day for Germanwings and the entire Luthansa family."

He expressed his "deepest regret" to the victims and their family members, adding: "Our prayers and thoughts are exclusively with the victims and together with the authorities we will do everything in order to establish the causes of this accident as quickly and comprehensively as possible."

No names of victims will be released until all the families have been informed, he said.

He was asked whether a group of school children were on board but was unable to confirm or deny this.

The captain had more than 10 years experience, including more than 6,000 flight hours with A320 aircraft.

The plane was delivered to Lufthansa, owner of Germanwings, in 1991. Mr Winkelmann told the press conference that "there is absolutely no issue with the age of the airplane".

The Lufthansa group currently has hundreds of Airbus A320 planes in service, he  said.

The flight began descending from its cruising height of 38,000ft before disappearing from the radar of French air traffic control.

One hundred and fifty people - including 144 passengers and six crew members - are believed to dead after the tragedy.

The flight was travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it began its rapid descent from 38,000 feet until it crashed.

It is believed to have dived for eight minutes before crashing.

Pierre Polizzi, who owns a campsite near the crash site, said: "I heard a series of loud noises in the air. There are often fighter jets flying over, so I thought it sounded just like that. I looked outside, but I couldn't see any fighter planes.

"The noise I heard was long - like eight seconds - as if the plane was going more slowly than a military plane speed. There was another long noise after about 30 seconds."

Mr Polizzi said the plane crashed between five and 10 miles from the campsite.

He added: "It's going to be very difficult to get there. The mountain is snowy and very hostile."

French President Francois Hollande earlier declared the incident "a tragedy on our soil".

The plane is thought to have been carrying mainly Spanish, German and Turkish passengers when it crashed in what are thought to have been normal weather conditions.

Carsten Spohr, the CEO of Lufthansa, the parent company of budget airline Germanwings, said he does not yet have any information about what happened to the flight.

He said in a tweet: "My deepest sympathy is with all the relatives and friends of our passengers and crew on 4U 9525.

"If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."